Key Quotes for 2014

Days after it was suggested that the number of victims in the UK could be as high as 13,000, ‘The Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders Against Modern Slavery’ was signed. Archbishop Justin Welby said the leaders had ‘joined together for the liberation of the most vulnerable in our world’.

Pope Francis has told reporters that he understood the harm caused by the stereotype that linked Islam with terrorism. He said a ‘global condemnation’ of the violence would help the majority of Muslims dispel this stereotype.

The majority of Egyptians do not want the Muslim Brotherhood involved in their society or in politics, according to a new poll from Baseera, the Egyptian Center of Public Opinion Research, it was reported in September. Of the more than 1,300 people polled, 69% said they don’t approve of the Muslim Brotherhood and 78% say the Brotherhood’s one-year rule was worse than expected. A majority of respondents, 63%, said they don’t want the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party to participate in the next election.

Revd Nigel Genders, Chief Education Officer of the Church of England, has warned that British values cannot be allowed to become a test or an assessment of whether somebody in a community is ‘safe’ or ‘loyal’. His comments come in response to the Education Secretary’s call for schools to teach ‘British values’.

Sir John Cass’s Foundation and Red Coat Church of England School in Tower Hamlets, failed to protect children from Islamic extremism, according to Ofsted inspectors. They allege that the inner-city Church of England school, which is in a heavily Muslim area, neglected to monitor the activities of an Islamic society set up by sixth formers.

Earlier this week, 40 years of debate and campaigning came to an end as legislation enabling women to become bishops came into force at the Church of England’s General Synod. Archbishop Justin Welby said the church has entered a ‘completely new phase’ of its existence, but said it could take as long as 10 years for the church to achieve an equal balance between men and women in its senior leadership.

One in four British teachers say more Bible and other sacred texts in the curriculum would improve community cohesion, rising to one in three teachers for primary schools. The findings, which are part of a nationwide YouGov study for Bible Society, come as the government consults on new criteria for the teaching of religious studies in schools and as Bible Society held a debate on the role of sacred texts in school at Parliament which was chaired by Fiona Bruce MP.

The website Netmums has found that parents are unhappy that the traditional story of the nativity is only being shown in a third of schools and has, instead, been replaced by ‘Winter Celebrations’ or an ‘End of Year Concert’. Two thirds (65 per cent) of parents whose school doesn’t hold a traditional nativity would like it to. A further 13 per cent planned to teach their child the Christmas story at home.

The Prime Minister's office told Nick Hurd to continue funding Big Society Network even though the then-minister for civil society had raised concerns about its poor performance and financial sustainability, the National Audit Office has found.

The Church of England has said that worshippers are increasingly turning their backs on the attending Sunday morning services because of other leisure and social ‘commitments’. Many people still crave quiet reflection, but are seeking out less ‘pressurized’ times in the week to worship.